A generic approach to the evolution of interaction in ubiquitous systems

McBryan, Tony (2011) A generic approach to the evolution of interaction in ubiquitous systems. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This dissertation addresses the challenge of the configuration of modern (ubiquitous, context-sensitive, mobile et al.) interactive systems where it is difficult or impossible to predict (i) the resources available for evolution, (ii) the criteria for judging the success of the evolution, and (iii) the degree to which human judgements must be involved in the evaluation process used to determine the configuration.

In this thesis a conceptual model of interactive system configuration over time (known as interaction evolution) is presented which relies upon the follow steps; (i) identification of opportunities for change in a system, (ii) reflection on the available configuration alternatives, (iii) decision-making and (iv) implementation, and finally iteration of the process.

This conceptual model underpins the development of a dynamic evolution environment based on a notion of configuration evaluation functions (hereafter referred to as evaluation functions) that provides greater flexibility than current solutions and, when supported by appropriate tools, can provide a richer set of evaluation techniques and features that are difficult or impossible to implement in current systems. Specifically this approach has support for changes to the approach, style or mode of use used for configuration - these features may result in more effective systems, less effort involved to configure them and a greater degree of control may be offered to the user.

The contributions of this work include; (i) establishing the the need for configuration evolution through a literature review and a motivating case study experiment, (ii) development of a conceptual process model supporting interaction evolution, (iii) development of a model based on the notion of evaluation functions which is shown to support a wide range of interaction configuration approaches, (iv) a characterisation of the configuration evaluation space, followed by (v) an implementation of these ideas used in (vi) a series of longitudinal technology probes and investigations into the approaches.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Evaluation, evolution, configuration, interactive systems, dynamic, model based
• Subjects: Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science; Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA76 Computer software
• Colleges/Schools: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• Supervisor's Name: Gray, Mr. Phil D.
• Date of Award: 2011
• Depositing User: Dr Anthony McBryan
• Unique ID: glathesis:2011-2620
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 02 Jun 2011
• Last Modified: 10 Dec 2012 13:58
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/2620